


HodgePodge

by ClaudiaWrites



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: AU, Angst, Arguments, Canon Compliant, Could literally be anything, Drabbles, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Enemies to Lovers, F/M, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Gen, Hogwarts, Humor, MWPP, Marauders, Mutual Pining, One Shot, Romance, Sexual Tension, Unrelated Works, collection of drabbles, everything under the sun - Freeform, jily
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-12
Updated: 2021-01-17
Packaged: 2021-03-04 01:06:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 15,665
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24675073
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ClaudiaWrites/pseuds/ClaudiaWrites
Summary: A collection of unrelated Jily drabbles that were too short and silly to post as stand-alone stories. Will be updated as and when I write more.
Relationships: James Potter/Lily Evans Potter
Comments: 94
Kudos: 150





	1. Mirror

**Author's Note:**

> None of these drabbles are connected to each other. Enjoy!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lily Evans and mirrors have always had an intriguing relationship. She’s shared many intimate, and sometimes, several foolish moments of her life with the reflective surfaces.

**Mirror**

_"The mirror is my best friend because when I cry, it never laughs.”_

There’s something to be said about the human psychology that one can’t help staring at mirrors or reflections whenever an opportunity arises, and yet, the rarity of finding one who is truly content with one’s appearance is madly astounding.

Lily Evans was no different.

Being a redhead with startling green eyes and pale, freckle-dotted skin meant that Lily spent an inordinate amount of time in front of mirrors throughout her life, both as a child and as an adult. The reasons for it often tended to vary over the years, however.

At age five, Lily can’t fathom why she has been cursed this way and wonders why she looks so different from her friends and sister, who has shiny blond hair and blue eyes. She pouts unhappily, crying in front of her tiny bedroom mirror as she pulls on her red pigtails with distaste.

“But _why_ do I look like this, Tuney?”

“I don’t know, Lily,” her elder sister sighs in irritation from the bed, blowing on her brightly colored fingernails to dry them. Her eyes lift to Lily and she cocks her head to the side. “You know Mum says you got it from Aunt Lucinda.”

“But Aunt Lucinda is _beautiful_ ,” Lily turns around, chubby cheeks streaked with tears, “Will I ever be as beautiful as her, Tuney?”

“Unlikely,” Petunia says, and Lily deflates, more tears leaking out. “You should’ve just been blonde like me and Mum.”

“I didn’t _mean_ to be this way!” Lily cries, “All the kids at school tease me for it.”

Petunia sighs deeply, looking very much like a patient adult to Lily, and finally puts aside her tube of nail paint before coming up to her little sister.

“Honestly, you’re such a cry-baby!” she wipes away Lily’s tears, “You’ve gotta be _strong_ , you know. Even if you have weird hair, you shouldn’t let the other kids tease you for it. Remember that you’re better at quizzes than them.”

“I am,” Lily smiles wide then, her lips pulling apart to reveal a missing tooth, “I scored highest on the spelling test today.”

“There you go,” Petunia pats her on the head, and Lily looks up at her with admiration. “You must become successful enough that it’ll make up for how you look. And then someone will agree to marry you.”

“Like a prince!”

“Princes aren’t real, Lily! Grow _up_.”

* * *

At age ten, Lily rushes up to her room, forehead gleaming with sweat, and closes the door behind her with a shaky hand. She quickly runs up to stand in front of the body-length mirror inside and looks down at her clenched palm with uncontained giddiness.

Bouncing on the balls of her feet, excitement barely contained, Lily opens her palm to reveal a withered flower resting there sadly.

“You can do this, Lily,” she whispers to herself seriously, eyebrows pulled together in concentration. “Severus said you could.”

She scrunches up her face as if she hasn’t done this several times already, but her apprehensive little heart doesn’t want to sore too high with hope. And yet, the flower revives easily, _too_ easily, the petals blooming again with a bright yellow color that open up to illuminate Lily’s face as if to sing ‘ _thank you for saving me’._

Her green eyes lift up to the mirror then, and she finds herself smiling radiantly, wide enough that it hurts her face, but Lily can’t help it.

“You’re a witch, Lily Evans,” she says, and then promptly dissolves into a bout of mad giggles. 

* * *

At age eleven, Lily Evans stands in the bathroom she shares with her Gryffindor dorm mates at one in the morning, feeling quite wide awake.

It’s only her first night at Hogwarts, and she can barely believe her luck. Truth be told, up until this point, Lily had half expected this to be some elaborate dream cooked up by her overactive imagination. But it isn’t, and somehow, all she can do is cover her mouth with her hands and squeal into them excitedly as she jumps around, legs flailing wildly.

She is a _witch_. Hogwarts is _real._ Magic exists.

She wonders if the world will ever feel the same way to her again or not. She doesn’t really mind the idea of it changing.

She takes a deep breath to calm her racing heart and says, “You’ve got this, Lily. You’re going to be the _best_ witch this world has ever seen. And you’ll have the power to help Severus. And then Tuney will have to acknowledge you, too.”

Satisfied with her pep-talk and with hope blooming in her chest, Lily returns to her bed.

* * *

At age fifteen, Lily realizes the pain of shattered hope.

“Stupid, stupid, _stupid_ ,” she sobs quietly, glaring at her reflection in the bathroom mirror. She furiously wipes at her eyes, leaving the skin underneath them red and raw. “You _knew_ it. You _already_ knew what he was getting into, then _why—”_

But she knows why. Of course, she does.

_Mudblood._

The word rattles around her head, again and again, piercing her heart and soul in ways she hasn’t ever let it before. She knows it’s not just the humiliation and the utterly degrading sentiment behind the word that makes it difficult for her to breathe.

It’s the person who said it. The person who she’d foolishly thought she could change, who had long ago stopped being Lily’s friend and seemed more ashamed to be seen around _her_ than around his little Death Eater buddies—

_No._

Lily shakes her head, grips the sink beneath her fingers until they shake, and glares at her reflection some more.

“Severus is gone,” she tells herself firmly, not entirely able to stop the pit in her heart from enlarging. “He is no different from his disgusting mates who want you dead. Get. That. Through. Your. Head.”

When one traitorous tear still leaks out and makes a trail down her cheek, Lily decides it’s the last one she will ever shed for her lost friend.

“Lily?” She hears Mary’s cautious rapping of knuckles against the bathroom door. “Are you—are you okay?”

Lily quickly splashes some cold water on her face and pats it dry before opening the door with a small smile. “I’m okay.”

“Okay,” Mary nods, shifting uncomfortably. “It’s just—”

“What?”

“Snape’s downstairs. Outside the portrait hole,” Mary grimaces. It’s almost a reflex for Lily to defend the boy, but she clamps down on the urge vehemently. “He says he’s going to sleep out there until you talk to him.”

Somehow, this only makes her anger boil over. How typical of Severus to treat her like trash and then blackmail her into being friends with him again at his own convenience.

She sighs. “I’ll take care of it.”

“You don’t have to go down there, Lily,” Mary implores immediately, stopping her with a hand on her shoulder. “I—After what happened down by the lake today…”

“So what? Are you saying I should just hide up in here forever?”

“Merlin, no, of _course_ not. I just ran into James while coming up here and—”

“Potter?” She frowns, her heart jumping at the mention of that particular name despite herself. Stupid bloody James Potter and his _stupid_ mates and just…she couldn’t deal with him right now. “What’s he got to do with anything?”

“Well, Snape’s making quite some commotion down there, and James is all too willing to do something about it, so you don’t have to—”

“Mary,” Lily cuts her off, “Hell hasn’t yet frozen over. I don’t need James Potter coming to my rescue.”

With that said, she strides past Mary and out of the dormitory.

* * *

At age sixteen, Lily finds herself in front of the Prefect’s Bathroom mirror on the fifth floor, not entirely sure that she’s not completely lost her mind. 

Her fingers hurriedly comb through her auburn strands, pulling them out of the braid she’d had earlier. They fall in gentle waves over her shoulders and Lily quickly reaches into her purse to pull out a clear lip gloss.

“Lily?” Mary walks into the bathroom right as she starts applying the gloss. “What are you— _Merlin_ , are you getting _dolled_ up?”

Lily’s cheeks burn a telling red and she almost drops the tube in alarm. “Mary! How did you get inside?”

“Just overheard you saying the password,” Mary rolls her eyes, walking up to her with a fiendish grin, “But never mind that. Are you _dressing up_ for James Potter?”

“What?” Lily squawks, face heating up even more, “That’s not— _no,_ of course not. Why would you—it’s _Hogsmeade._ It’s okay to look a little better than your usual days on Hogsmeade outings.”

“No one’s denying that,” Mary continues to grin, “Except you didn’t seem to think so just ten minutes ago before we ran into Remus on the staircase and he told us that the lads would be joining us since all of us were date-less.”

“I—well, that’s not—” Lily sputters, lost for words. She finally huffs, tossing the gloss back into her purse and hiking the strap higher on her shoulder. “I _wasn’t_ dressing up for James. How can you even assume it’s for him, besides? Maybe I just felt like looking prettier. James and I are _mates_ , Mary. Barely that, even.”

“Sure, sure. All I’m asking is for you to inform me when you decide that you’ve suffocated enough under the burden of your own blinding denial.”

“Oh, shut up,” Lily says, ignoring her friend’s laughter as she walks past her. “Let’s go or we’ll be late.”

“I’m sure Potter won’t mind a couple of minutes. You know, considering the bloke’s been waiting for you for _years._ ”

“Merlin help me, I will _push_ you down the stairs, Mary.”

* * *

At age seventeen, Lily feels like she’s pretty much on top of the world.

Or as ‘at top of the world’ as a witch who’s been asked out by her ridiculous, dashing best-mate gets.

She stares at her reflection in the mirror, grinning madly as she plops down on her soft bed. Being the head girl at Hogwarts has brought more than a few benefits with it in Lily’s life, the head’s dormitory being one of them.

Though perhaps snogging the head boy for a good half hour on their common room couch had not been the primary expectation that her title required of her. 

But Lily decides there are worse things in life. Like _not_ snogging James Potter.

She doesn’t know how he managed to _completely_ wriggle his way into her life and her heart, but he has. There’s barely any moment in her days now when Lily is not obsessively thinking about the boy who lives in the room across from hers.

She supposes she should start referring to him as her boyfriend now.

The thought makes her giggle, an alarmingly large-sized bubble of giddiness expanding in her chest. She trails her fingers up to her thoroughly snogged lips and feels her stomach swoop. There’s a bright telling light in her green eyes and Lily is sorely tempted to go check whether the same emotion is reflected in _James’s_ eyes or not, but stops herself because _Merlin_ knows it had been difficult enough to leave the bloody couch in the first place. 

But it’s soon clear that she has the stronger willpower between the two of them when there is a sharp knock against the door and then James’s messy-haired head pokes in.

“Can’t sleep,” He says, a shameless smirk eating up his face. “I’m scared of the dark.”

“Keep the lights on then,” Lily says, raising an eyebrow when he steps inside her room.

“And loneliness. I’m scared of loneliness.”

She laughs at his expression. “That really is a pity.”

“I reckon you can be of some help. Care to try?”

And though she knows that it goes _entirely_ against her recent decision of staying away for the night…well, there’s only so much that a witch can resist.

So when James offers her his hand and Lily notices that his eyes are _decidedly_ bright behind his glasses, she stops trying to fight the battle that she’s already lost and allows him to pull her away.

_The End._


	2. On the Wheels

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> AU. "James laughed loudly. Carefree. Lily's lips twitched—she had no idea why. Or maybe she pretended not to have one anyway. "Christ, it's not a counseling session!" he said, his eyes filled with amusement." One train ride. One compartment. Two passengers. A shameless flirt and a wary redhead. [Lily/James One shot]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So the basic gist of it is that I watched a movie, felt like writing something to do with a train ride, and my hand slipped. I haven't really spent much time on this one, so I don't know how you guys will like it, but I really hope it won't be so awful that you won't leave me any reviews. Please do. They mean the world to me. That's all—read ahead.

**On the Wheels**

"19 B. Excuse me, that's my seat."

Lily Evans looked up from her book at the sound of the voice. It was a tall man—probably in his early twenties, not unlike Lily herself. He carried a travelling bag and an additional duffle that was slung on his shoulder. Nerdy rectangular glasses, haphazard hair, and big, mischievous hazel eyes. He was scrummy—there was no denying it. But she was no idiot either. He spelled trouble.

"Um, excuse me?" he waved his hand in front of her eyes. Lily flushed; he was amused.

"Yes, of course." She scooted over onto the other side of the compartment. "I'm sorry. I just didn't—I found it completely empty when I came in, so…" she trailed off lamely. Truth was, she'd almost missed the train in the morning because of the disastrous traffic. And she had somehow— _God_ only knew how—managed to climb in when The Express had started moving. After that, she'd simply found her compartment and collapsed onto the seat, trying to bury herself in her book as the scenery flew past.

"No problem." The guy said, storing his luggage overhead just as the train started pulling away from the station again. Lily allowed herself a little eye candy as she watched his black t-shirt rise with his motion, uncovering just a bit of tanned skin. Her eyes expertly skirted away as soon as he turned around, however. He was smiling charmingly. "Hi. I'm James Potter."

"Lily Evans." She took his extended hand. James's smile stretched into a smirk at the contact, and Lily promptly took her hand back, unnecessarily tucking strands of auburn hair behind her ear. He was _definitely_ trouble. She shook her head, finding her worn out, coffee-stained bookmark, and opening the page where she'd let off. A glance towards her fellow passenger let Lily know that he had busied himself by plugging in his earphones. _Music_.

She smiled, returning to her novel.

James Potter was incapable of sitting still.

Lily could confidently confirm this after having spent an hour and a half with the man in the compartment of a train. He simply could _not_. He was always doing something. Nodding his head to the tune, or tapping his feet to the beats. Besides, James had gotten bored with his music within merely twenty minutes anyway. He'd decided to entertain himself by staring out the window for the next ten. He would look outside, twiddle his thumbs, sigh, and then check his wristwatch. They still had quite some time to go.

Not only that, he would often stare at Lily, too. He wasn't very subtle at it. He shifted too much, his glasses caught the glare of the afternoon sun, and he ran his hand through his hair excessively. It made his messy hair look messier. Obnoxious. But sexy. He knew it. He was _dying_ to strike up a conversation—to rid himself of his boredom, or just for the sake of it, she could not be sure. But he wanted to talk. She could tell by the way his mouth opened and closed several times before he returned to _not_ doing nothing. She kept reading.

No, James Potter could not sit still.

Not like Lily had surreptitiously stolen glances of him over her book. Not that she had observed him for too long to be able to catch every single one of his quirks. No, that was not the reason she'd managed to read only ten pages of her novel in the past one and a half hours at all—feeling his gaze on her and making her incredibly conscious. No, it was not like that. Any mildly observant person could have caught his restlessness and his oddities. Anyone at all.

"Um…Lily?" He finally seemed to have found his voice. Biting her lip, Lily saved her page with the bookmark before looking up at him with an innocent expression.

"Yes?" she asked. Polite.

"Could we…um, talk?" James asked, smiling sheepishly. He may have been a sack full of trouble, but he was annoyingly adorable. Lily would give him that. "I mean, I don't know about you, but…I'm just finding this a bit awkward. Aren't you?" He chuckled.

Lily swallowed her smile and shrugged. "Sure, I guess." She neatly placed her book beside her on the seat and crossed her legs. "What do you want to talk about?"

James laughed loudly. Carefree. Lily's lips twitched—she had _no_ idea why. Or maybe she pretended not to have one anyway. "Christ, it's not a counseling session!" he said, his eyes filled with amusement. "We could talk about anything. Whatever pops into our heads." He grinned crookedly. "So, where are you going?"

"Visiting the sister." Lily shifted on her seat. She'd tried not to think much about that, actually. It was not a very pleasant line of thought. Petunia was not something she liked to think often about anyway. She had almost— _almost_ —turned around and returned home when she saw the train speeding away from the platform. It was probably a sign. But then she'd remembered her mother's pleading voice, and how much it would mean to her for Lily to go visit her big sister. But, dear God, Petunia had a _son_! With that god- _awful_ man named Vernon Dursley.

Not that Lily wasn't happy for her sister. But she didn't have an ounce of doubt on the fact that the welcome she would receive from Petunia would be anything less than hostile. So, all in all, Lily Evans was _not_ looking forward to this supposed 'visit'.

She shook her head to clear these thoughts and looked at James. "What about you? Where are you heading to?"

Apparently, Lily decided, this was the right question to ask, for the man's eyes lit up with excitement. "Oh, I'm off to visit my friend Sirius. We're about to take an apartment together." He said happily. Lily grinned; his enthusiasm was contagious. She nodded, resting her chin on her hand as she listened to James describe his plans; he wanted to play football professionally, but not before finishing university. He was an only child but had friends who were nothing short of brothers to him. And she was right—he _was_ way too mischievous, not to mention a shameless flirt.

But she didn't mind. She didn't mind at all.

"Would you like anything, dears?" A voice interrupted them.

Lily looked up to find a cheerful old woman with a food trolley standing at the threshold of the compartment. She raised her eyebrows questioningly. Lily sighed in relief—she was _starving._ "Yes, please. I'll take a sandwich and two cupcakes." She reached into her pocket for the money as the woman nodded and got the food ready.

"I've got it." Lily felt a hand on her arm, and her eyes shot up to find James smiling down at her politely. "Could I have a burger and some macaroons, please?" He grinned charmingly at the old woman, and she giggled amusedly.

"Listen, James, you can't—" Lily started hesitantly.

"Oh, hush. It's completely fine." He said dismissively. And before Lily could make any further protests, he had already paid the woman and was carrying the food items inside. She got up to help him, feeling completely useless as she took her sandwich and cupcakes to her seat. She'd just let a complete stranger pay for her food! For no apparent reason! The fact did not bode well with Lily.

"James?" She called, unwrapping her sandwich as she looked at him.

"Mhm?" He answered, already chewing on his burger.

"Listen, I—I can't let you pay for me like this." Lily sighed, her eyes confused and troubled, and… _something_. "It's just…I don't even know you properly, and I wouldn't want you to spend your money on me."

James stared at her, his eyebrows raised in surprise. Then, slowly, he chortled. "It's just a little money, Lily. Honestly little." He said, but when her expression still remained uneasy, he rolled his eyes good-naturedly. "Alright, alright. If it really bothers you that much, you can pay me back when the time comes, okay?"

Lily considered this for a moment, before finally accepting. She nodded, smiling. "Okay." She said, going back to her sandwich.

"So…what is that book about?" James asked about half an hour later. The train was rumbling pleasantly under them, gently rocking their bodies from side to side. They'd both finished with their snacks, and food wrappers scattered the seats. Lily had her eyes closed and was humming in her head when James asked the question. She opened her eyelids to reveal forest-green orbs and looked down at the book in question. _Angel of the Dark_ by Sidney Sheldon.

"Crime investigation." She answered.

"Oh." James sounded surprised. "Hmm."

"What?" Lily asked defensively.

"Nothing…"

"No, _something_." She argued, now too curious to let it slide. "Come on, what is it?"

James shook his head, smiling to himself. "Nothing, it's…it's just that I thought it would be something else. Like a romance novel or something." He shrugged, giving her a crooked grin. Lily's eyes narrowed playfully.

"Because I'm a _girl_?" She teased. "That's pretty sexist, Potter. Besides, what's wrong with romance novels? I like my fair share of them from time to time." She folded her arms across her chest.

"Nothing's _wrong_ with them." James raised his hands in front of himself, laughing. "You just surprised me, I guess. You're so…different." His grin simmered down into an enigmatic smile, which made Lily's stomach flop uncomfortably. The atmosphere had changed, but she pretended it hadn't. It was safer to.

"I'm different because I read mystery novels?" She asked skeptically.

"Sort of," He grinned. "I mean, when I saw you, I totally thought that you were reading a Mills and Boons—something that would include a beautiful girl meeting a handsome bloke on a train, and the spark of an immediately love story." He wiggled his dark eyebrows.

"That," Lily said, " _Has_ to be one of the worst pick-up lines ever." But worst pick-up line or not, she could not control the smile that pulled at her lips, nor the blush that took over her cheeks.

James's hazel eyes widened in amused surprise. His glasses weren't catching the rays of the sun anymore, and Lily realized that it was almost evening. They would arrive at the station soon. "Maybe it wasn't one." He offered. When the redhead simply gave him a look of utter disbelief, he laughed again. "Okay, so perhaps it was. But you can't blame me."

"I can't?" She smirked.

James shook his head. "No. Come on, Lily, how do you expect me to not at least _try_ my luck? It's not like I encounter pretty, quick-witted, mystery novel-reading, single girls every day." Then, after a beat, he hastily added, "Wait, you _are_ single, right?"

Lily laughed.

* * *

It was when they felt the train slowing down, and saw the approaching platform that James spoke next. "Hey, Lily?" His voice was quick, desperate.

"Yeah?" Her heart hammered against her chest.

James ran a hand through his dark locks. "I've got another question for you."

Of course, he did.

"And…?"

"Do you—do you _really_ not like me…y'know, like _that_?" His voice was sober, sincere. Lily blinked. "Because, let's be honest, I totally do. Ever since I saw you look up from that Sidney Sheldon book of yours. And…and I just need you to tell me the truth, because—" he took a deep breath. Then let it out slowly. "Because we probably won't even see each other after this—not if we don't do anything about it." He let his eyes scan hers, waiting for a response.

But Lily didn't reply. She averted her eyes and got up from her seat. Wordlessly, she reached overhead and pulled down her suitcase, looking outside the window as she did so. The train had come to a stop at the station. People were filing out, and there were families and friends greeting each other. She didn't even look for her sister. It would be of no use.

Instead, Lily paused for a fraction of a second, and from the periphery of her vision, she could just make out the seated figure that was James. He was still looking at her, his shoulders slouched. That was probably the least he'd moved since Lily saw him. She swallowed. Took a deep breath. And turned around.

"You know what?" She asked him, keeping her expression carefully blank. "I think I like trouble."

When James simply continued to stare at her confusedly, Lily squared her shoulders and took purposeful strides until she was standing right in front of him, her legs touching his. Then, without a word, she wound her fingers into his hair, leaned down, and pressed her lips against his.

The kiss was gentle and desperate at the same time, and it took James barely half a second to respond. His arm hooked itself around Lily's waist and he pulled her into his lap, further deepening the kiss. Lily's other hand traveled up from his chest to rest on his neck, and she sighed into his mouth. After a fashion, they both pulled away, breathless and flushed in the face. James was beaming, and Lily had a healthy, happy glow on her face.

"Wow." James breathed, tucking a strand of red hair behind Lily's ear. "What was that?"

"That was me paying you back when the time was right," Lily explained shyly. As she noticed a frown forming between James's brows, she kissed the spot. "Don't worry; I plan to stay in your debt for a long time, James. And keep repaying you again and again." She closed her eyes and rested her forehead against his.

James hummed, satisfied. "Good." He pecked her lips one more time.

* * *

They could have very likely been the last ones to exit the train, but for James and Lily, it was too soon. _Too_ early. As the green eyes lifted up to find the hazel ones, she reflected on the fact that she had met this man nothing but a few hours ago. "Bye, James." She told him, giving him a kiss on the cheek.

James wrapped her into a tight hug, burying his face into her hair. "Bye, Lily."

He did not notice when a hand reached into his pocket and dropped a small piece of paper inside.

When they pulled away, Lily waved goodbye with a tight smile before turning around and promptly walking away, suitcase in tow. She did not look back—she _couldn't_. Her eyes scanned the platform on their own accord—even though she'd promised herself she wouldn't. She had yet again allowed herself to hope. Lily sighed. Petunia wasn't here.

Of course she wasn't.

Shaking her head at herself, Lily Evans exited the train station, but not before she caught a glimpse of James with someone. This person was equally tall with smooth dark hair that fell over his grey eyes. He seemed like one of those people who were surreally good-looking. She smiled. It must've been the 'Sirius' James had told her about.

The two men were involved in an entirely enthused conversation—probably something that was hilariously trivial. James had probably not even given her a thought after their goodbyes, Lily found herself thinking. With a wistful sigh, she willed herself to look away and walk out into the inky night.

"Taxi!" she called.

About ten minutes later, Lily watched the city fly past her in a blur of colors, the wind whipping her hair around. Then suddenly, it buzzed. Her phone. She bit her lip, closed her eyes, uttered a quick prayer, and checked the screen.

Unknown number.

"H-hello? Lily Evans here."

"Hello, Lily Evans." She heard an amused voice from the other end of the line. "This is James Potter."

Her smile could _not_ have possibly been any wider. "Hi, James."

"I must say, it was incredibly sneaky of you to drop your number in my pocket like that." His voice was teasing and fond. "I must personally thank you for doing that." He said.

"Tomorrow? Lunch?"

"I'll pick you up." She could hear his grin.

"I'll send you the address."

"Cool."

Lily looked out into the night and thought that now, no matter what, even _Petunia_ could not ruin her day. "Cool." She whispered back.


	3. Of Screeches and Dates

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lily's peaceful evening by the common room fireplace soon turns eventful when she hears distinctly loud sounds from outside the portrait hole.
> 
> P.S - Happy Birthday, Lily Evans aka everything good in the world (other than James Potter).

**Of Screeches and Dates**

She’s quietly reading by the fire, a worn-out copy of Pride and Prejudice placed gently on her lap when she hears the loud screeching noise. 

At first, she frowns, staring towards the portrait hole from where the sound is emanating. She’s just about to get up and inspect the chaos\--because her head girl duties literally _demand_ her to, no matter that the couch is incredibly soft under her arse\--when the noise abruptly stops. 

She shakes her head, thinking it’s probably a couple of first years messing around, before going back to her book. She’s just reached the part where Mr. Collins arrives at Longbourn when the screeching resumes with a fervor, and soon enough, the portrait hole is thrown open violently. 

She jumps up, ready to reprimand the kids, and instead finds _her_ boys, the idiotic fools who call themselves the marauders, tumbling inside. They’re being led by a euphoric James Potter, who is the _head boy_ alongside her and that title should _really_ mean something to him and _god_ she’s going to kill him because is _that...?_

“Oh my god, James, what the _fuck_ is that?!”

His eyes are immediately on her, hazel orbs widening with something akin to apprehension because he clearly hadn’t expected her to be there. 

“All right, Evans?”

She doesn’t answer him, continuing to stare at the abomination in front of her. 

“It’s an elephant, Lily,” Sirius grins madly, looking immensely proud. James at least has the decency to cringe at this, and Remus has entirely faced the other direction so as to not make eye contact with her. 

Oh, she’s _livid_.

“No, Sirius,” she grits out slowly, “ _That_. Is a _student_ whom you’ve _transfigured_ to look like an elephant!”

The subject in question lets out a pitiful wail (the screech she’d heard earlier), and she wishes there was something distinct about this student because she cannot for the life of her figure out who the person is. 

“Turn him back _this instant_!” She growls, throwing her book onto the couch, and the boys know she means business. 

“But the ponce deserved it!” James puts in unhelpfully. 

Her glare is enough to silence him. Honestly, she’s a little bummed and a lot disappointed. He’d gone almost all of sixth year and the beginning of seventh without hexing anyone. She’d really started thinking that he was over his bullying days, and now all she can do is sigh heavily, letting him know just _how much_ he’s let her down. 

Because _her_ James wouldn’t have hexed someone for the fun of it. 

And when the spell wears off after a reluctant grumble from Sirius, and Lily sees exactly _who_ the student is, she realizes he _didn’t_ do it for the fun of it. 

Her heart skips a beat. “Calum?”

Calum Hopkins was a sixth year Gryffindor who’d asked her to Hogsmeade just the week before. Only, after Lily had waited for him at the three broomsticks for two hours and realized that she’d been stood up, she found him making out with a Hufflepuff against Zonko’s when she was returning to the castle. 

She hadn’t been much into the bloke, not this _particular_ bloke anyhow, but it had still hurt to have been treated so crassly. He’d never even apologized. 

She wasn’t a vengeful person by nature and had brushed off the insult once she’d gotten it off her chest, but she was a fool to have forgotten that her best friend would have gotten vengeance on her behalf. 

A stupid, _besotted_ fool to think of the word ‘best friend’ with a tinge of bitterness. 

“Well?” James turns to Calum now, “What did we agree upon, Hopkins?”

The sixth-year looks at the head boy fearfully, touches his own face for reassurance, and then turns to her. “I’m sorry, Lily.”

“Sorry for...?” James goads.

“Sorry for standing you up and being a dick in general. I just wanted to make Valerie jealous.”

“No harm done,” She shrugs, unable to bring forth any anger because all she feels right now is a giddy sort of bubbling in her chest. 

Hopkins doesn’t waste another two seconds before rushing away from the common room, and the Marauders thankfully let him. 

She turns to them then, her eyebrows arched high and green eyes sparkling. She wants to reprimand them, yell at them, because it’s _still_ foolish, _still_ wrong, even if they did it for her, even if _he_ did it for her. 

But all she can manage is a soft, “I can fight my own battles, James.”

The other three boys take this as their cue to scatter around and make themselves comfortable on the couch she’s just vacated, assured enough that she’s not really spitting fire anymore. James gives her a soft, tilted smile, the one that does weird things to her stomach. 

“I know you can, Lil, but I also know that you’re kind to a fault.”

“That’s not--”

“You would have never confronted him about it, and _I’m_ not okay with him treating you like that.”

“I just don’t care enough about him to be too bothered, James.”

“But _I_ care enough about you to be. Too much.”

“Oh.”

“Yes, _oh_ ,” He stalks closer to her, and she isn’t sure if the world has suddenly gone silent around them because she cannot hear or see or sense _anything_ other than James and his smile and his stare, which burns as brightly as the fire in the common room. “Do a bloke a favor and have some _patience_ , would you?”

“I--what?”

“I didn’t say anything when you agreed to go out with Hopkins,” He’s whispering now, “but I hope you didn’t damn well expect me to sit quiet after what he did.”

“No,” she sighs, “I guess not.”

“Good,” he grins, tapping her nose, “You better know how important you are to me, Evans. I’d have shown you more properly if you’d just _waited_ until the next Hogsmeade trip. I had this whole thing planned and everything--”

“What?” She’s certain that her heart is no longer beating. 

“Just don’t go accepting dates from any more idiots until then,” he winks, “I’m disaster enough for you.”

With that said, he jumps over the armrest of the couch to land perfectly on top of Peter, an action which is followed by a disgruntled ‘oof’ from the boy in question. 

And all she can do during this exchange is stand there and gape, wondering how _smoothly_ she’s just been asked out, and how she’s accepted to go on the date without even uttering a single word.

It’s only when she realizes that she _really doesn’t mind_ it that the grinning starts.

And then it never stops. 

_The End_


	4. Corridors & Chats

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> James & Lily run into each other on the staircases. Silliness follows.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This little chapter about nothing is dedicated to the insanely talented @moonawrites on Tumblr. A very happy belated birthday to you, M! I will forever fangirl about your fics to you. Sorry I couldn't give you something a little more refined, but I hope you feel my love all the same.

**Corridors & Chats**

“Shit _shit_ fuck fuck _fuck_ buggering _hell_ —”

“ _Merlin_ , Evans!” An amused voice interrupts her colorful ranting, two strong hands reaching out to grip her shoulders firmly before she can ram herself into their person. “You kiss your mother with that mouth?”

“James,” Lily sighs, the frown on her face easing only slightly at the voice. She looks up at the boy—his face all happy, hair a mess, hazel eyes bright, glasses sitting crooked on his nose—and promptly lets out a heavier sigh. “Hullo.”

“What a _frightful_ level of enthusiasm.”

Lily groans, stepping out of his reach and trying to walk past him.

“Hey! Where are you going?”

“Away.”

“What— _why?_ ”

“You’re too joyful to be around right now,” she answers, continuing her trek towards the Gryffindor common room. “I’m feeling decidedly _un_ -joyful.”

“Well, that’s easily taken care of,” James replies, instantly by her side again. He nudges her shoulder as they walk together, and Lily reluctantly looks up at him. She almost stumbles to a stop at the sudden grim expression on his face.

“Um, James—”

“Life is just the _worst_ ,” He tells her, “I’m just a stone’s throw away from jumping out the nearest window. Woe is me, bla bla bla. Let us pour out our hearts’ deepest darkest secrets and insecurities to each other because that is the _only_ way to get past this difficult time.”

Her lips quirk slightly despite her best attempts at not falling into his ridiculous trap. But then again, Lily has never claimed to be the sanest of sorts around this idiot.

“Difficult time for you, is it?”

“ _So_ difficult.”

“Care to elaborate?”

“Can’t do that, Evans,” James says, ruffling his hair as he fights to keep a blank face. The gleam in his eyes tells an entirely different tale altogether. “Stone’s throw away and all that, remember? Now, I would be only too willing to share if you went first.”

“It’s nothing,” Lily immediately clamps up again, body stiffening. The way James’s eyebrows fly up to his hairline at that is not really surprising.

“Oh yes, you are the perfect _embodiment_ of casualness and nonchalance right now. What could have _possibly_ made me think otherwise?”

“Ugh, bugger off.”

James laughs, jogging lightly as she storms off. “Come on, Lily. Alright, I’m sorry. Will you tell me what’s going on now?”

“No.”

“No?”

“ _No_.”

“But—”

“James, please,” Lily sighs, turning suddenly and almost causing the boy to crash into her. She loses her train of thought for a second at the unexpected proximity, and feels a disconcerting sort of tingle in her belly when James doesn’t immediately shuffle back to put a respectable distance between them.

“Please what, Lily? Tell me what’s bothering you.”

“No, I can’t.”

“You absolutely can,” he says, a small smile on his lips, “All you have to do is open your mouth and use the right words. You’re good at that, aren’t you? Using words—”

“It doesn’t _concern_ you.”

“It doesn’t—” James reels back, blinking rapidly, and Lily watches as the jovial expression on his face slowly turns serious. “It concerns you.”

“Yes, and I’m telling you that I can handle it myself. I don’t need you charging in—”

“Now just _hang on_ a second,” he cuts her off, a pronounced frown now marking his features. Lily feels a little bad about that but decides to stand her ground even as a definite tint of anger enters James’s voice. “Who said anything about charging in anywhere?”

“I know you.”

“Well, clearly not as well as you _think_. I know you’re more than capable enough to—”

“It’s about Snape,” Lily says flatly, effectively shutting him up.

The array of expressions that play across James’s face then is a little comical and Lily can’t help but fight her sudden urge to chuckle.

Flitting from shock to anger to irritation, James finally settles on an expression that makes him look like he’s going to be sick. “ _Snape_?! He—that— _why_ —”

“Hmm? Sorry?” Lily says, crossing her arms across her chest, “Were you going to say something that challenges my ability to handle it?”

James stares at her, the hard look in his eyes boring into her soul. Lily knows a number of people who would cower under this ‘quidditch-captain-dominance’ of his, but she’s had a good six years of practice.

“No,” he finally grits out when she glares right back at him. And although there’s a ridiculous clench to his jaw, Lily admires his self-control. “ _Now_ will you tell me what happened?”

“Very well,” Lily sighs, “But you must promise not to overreact.”

“I don’t _overreact!_ Snivellus is a ponce, Lily, and if he’s bothering you—”

“Then I can take care of that myself, James Potter!” She scolds him. “Honestly, how many times do I have to repeat this?”

“Alright, alright!” James relents, a sheepish look reluctantly taking over his face. Lily almost sighs in relief when the stiffness leaves his shoulders. “But you _have_ to allow me some expression of anger if the situation calls for it.”

“Which, knowing you, it undoubtedly will.”

“Hey! What does _that_ mean?”

“Nothing, nothing,” Lily laughs, catching ahold of James’s hand and pulling him along behind her. “Come on, you big oaf.”

“Where are we going?” James asks, even as he easily follows her. Lily is glad for the question because it stops her from appreciating how nicely her smaller hand fits into James’s larger one.

Those are _decidedly_ inappropriate thoughts for her to be having about a mate.

“Just here,” she tells him, coming to a stop in the 6th-floor corridor. “There shouldn’t be anyone around now that classes are done for the day.”

“Looking for some privacy, eh, Evans?” James wiggles his eyebrows as he slides down to the floor and makes himself comfortable against the wall.

Lily rolls her eyes before following suit. “Of course, your mind would jump there.”

“You know I’m just kidding, Lil,” He says, bumping his shoulder against hers.

She looks up at him to see a good-natured smile on his face, but there’s a weird gleam in his hazel eyes that Lily chalks up to her wishful thinking. She knows better than anyone else how much James has changed during the past year.

“Yeah, yeah, I know,” Lily bumps his shoulder back, “But probably save all the flirting for Sirius. Can’t have him getting all jealous now, can we?”

“Sirius understands,” James grins with a wink, and Lily can’t help the light blush that taints her cheeks then. “Now stop beating around the bush and tell me what Snivellus did.”

“ _Snape_ sent me a note during lunch that asked me to meet him at the Owlery after classes.”

“And you _went_?”

“I didn’t _know_ it was him! I wouldn’t have—if I’d known—the note was anonymous!”

“That’s _worse_ , Lily!” James says, turning to face her properly. She’s a little taken-aback by the vehemence in his eyes and can only blink as he frowns at her. “What were you _thinking_?! You know that—the kind of bastards in this school—and with everything going on outside—it’s not—it’s—”

“ _James_ ,” Lily cuts him off, placing a hand on his arm when his expression gets too agitated. “Calm down. You’re not making any sense.”

At her insistence, James stops and takes a deep breath before continuing. “It’s not safe for you to just go to places directed by anonymous notes. There are—these narrow-minded and lowly people who would love to hurt you for…for—”

“For being a Muggleborn?”

“Yes!” James clenches his fist, “And I’m not saying that you should be ashamed or hide in fear—the opposite, in fact—but you shouldn’t be so reckless, either. What if it had been a trap? What if—”

“No one would try anything with Dumbledore watching over us,” Lily cuts him off, but the argument sounds weak even to her own ears. Unfortunately, incidents of Muggleborn attacks at Hogwarts weren’t an uncommon occurrence. Nor was it rare for Lily to find herself at the end of prejudiced slurs thrown by pureblood fascists.

“You can’t be serious.”

“I know,” Lily sighs, feeling stupid for not thinking of this earlier, and even worse for having it pointed out by James, the reckless prat. “I’m sorry.”

“Merlin, don’t—don’t be sorry. I know you can easily take on four to five of those ridiculous Slytherins on a good day. It’s just better not to test out that theory if we can help it, isn’t it?”

“Since when did you become so wise, Potter?”

“Oh my, was that a compliment?”

“Try not to let it get to your head.”

“A little late for that,” James grins cheekily, and Lily can’t help the smile that spreads across her face to mirror his.

“You’re so insufferable.”

“You know you still love me,” he teases, before realizing what he’s said. Lily raises an eyebrow as the tips of his ears blush furiously.

“Quite sure of yourself, aren’t you?” She laughs, mostly to put him out of his misery, although it’s definitely fun to see James Potter squirm sometimes. What _isn’t_ fun, however, is the weird jump her heart decides to do at his words.

“ _Someone_ has to be in order to balance out your constant blows to my confidence,” James says, his wit as sharp as ever even though his voice remains a little bashful.

“There, there. You’ll survive.”

“You know, as fun as bantering with you is, Evans—and let me tell you, I don’t enjoy anything else quite as much as this—whiling away my days on dirty corridors is not my ideal way to pass time. So, if you don’t mind, may we get to the actual issue here?”

“Right,” Lily chews on her bottom lip before sighing loudly. “Okay, so, I go to the Owlery, and find Snape lurking in the shadows—”

“Typical Snivellus.”

“Shush. No more commentary out of you,” Lily scolds, although the effect is quite ruined when her voice is laced with amusement. “Anyway, there he was. I immediately made to leave the Owlery, of course, but then he started talking.”

“Merlin save us.”

“James!”

“Sorry,” he says, an entirely _un-_ apologetic grin stretching across his face. “Continue. Won’t disturb again, you have my word.”

Lily rolls her eyes but continues anyway.

“Right. So it’s the usual shite from there on—him asking me to forgive him in a way that is less asking and more _ordering_. And I told him he’d only stand a chance if he stopped hanging out with mini death-eaters—Uh-uh, no interrupting—good,” she smirks when James petulantly shuts his mouth. “Anyway, that’s when he started getting to the point…”

“And?” James prods when Lily doesn’t look like she’s about to continue. In fact, she looks quite like she might hurl up her last eight meals right there in the middle of the corridor. “Um, Lil?”

“He—uh, he brought you up.”

“Well, that’s hardly surprising,” James chuckles uneasily, his hand rushing up to tangle in his hair. “He must have had quite a few choice words for me—not that I give a flying whit about that—but you shouldn’t—I mean, _if_ it’s because of me, you shouldn’t, y’know—”

“It wasn’t about you,” Lily says, and now she’s not looking at him anymore. Her eyes glare at the floor as she clenches and unclenches her fingers around the hem of her skirt.

“Not about me? Then—”

“It was about us,” Lily clarifies. James frowns, not really understanding her until she gives him a pointed look and says, “ _Us_ , James.”

“Oh. _Oh_ ,” He breathes, eyes wide, and suddenly feels like vomiting as well. “He—uh—okay. Okay. Is that why you were so mad?”

“Yeah.”

“Right. Understood.” James says, and he can’t help it if his voice sounds a little small, because _damn it, it hurts._ “That’s, y’know—you shouldn’t let that get to you. Snivellus has always loved building up ridiculous theories and—yeah, don’t worry about it. Him insinuating anything about us doesn’t make it true. I understand that you wouldn’t want people to think we were anything but mates. I can do something about it if you want so—”

“Whoa, whoa, _whoa_ , James!” Lily stops his rambling, tugging on his forearm until he turns to face her again. She bends her head until she catches his eyes and gives him a rueful smile. “What the hell are you on about?”

“What do you mean?” He asks, perplexed. “Isn’t that what you were talking about? Snape thinking that we are—um, together?”

“No!” Lily huffs, a little red in the face. “I wouldn’t—I mean, of _course,_ I wouldn’t be so mad if that was all it was.”

“You…wouldn’t?”

“James,” Lily laughs lightly, “I’m not crazy. I mean, yes, maybe it is a little strange, but it would hardly be something to get so upset over, isn’t it?”

“You don’t need to convince _me_!” James says, chuckling as well, “I thought _you_ were the one who was feeling offended. Besides…”

“Besides?”

“Besides, I don’t think it’s all that strange,” he admits, trying to keep his voice casual even as his eyes quickly flit to hers as if to gauge her reaction. Even though her face is hidden by a curtain of red hair, James notices the redness in her cheeks and quickly clears his throat. “Erm, so, what _were_ you upset about?”

“You know what?” Lily says loudly, brushing back her hair and looking up at him with a strange smile. “It doesn’t matter. It’s done and handled, and I feel stupid for just dragging you here now—”

“Wait, what?” James sputters, blinking rapidly as Lily looks ready to end the conversation. “You can’t just—no _wait_ , sit _down_ , Lily! I _asked_ to be dragged here, so enough of that. Tell me what happened.”

“It’s nothing!” Lily says, looking frustrated. But when she catches sight of James’s steely expression, she lets out a long-suffering sigh. “ _Fine._ Snape just crossed the line with his accusations; going as far as to say I’m no longer able to think for myself and I’m being manipulated by you—”

“What?”

“And that, um, I was falling for your popularity and…fucking _around_ with you and other really crass things that I’d much rather not repeat, yeah?” She mumbles quickly, turning away to hide her flaming face again.

But James doesn’t need to see her expression to know exactly _what_ type of crass things Snivellus had been spouting. All of a sudden, he feels like he can’t see or sense anything at _all_ , except for blinding rage. He doesn’t even realize he’s stood until he feels Lily tug on his school robes.

“Hey, _hey!_ Where do you think you’re going?”

“To teach Snivellus a lesson, where else?”

“James, _no! Stop!_ ” Lily jumps to her feet and blocks his path. When James just tries to walk past her, she shoves her palms against his chest and glares angrily. “Are you _daft_? You _promised_! No overreacting.”

“Me?! I’m _overreacting_?” He stops to stare at her disbelievingly. “Lily, that—that piece of—he—”

“I _know_ what he did, James! I was there. And I took care of it.”

That makes him pause. “You did?”

“Yes, of course. And I don’t know whether it’s enough to keep him away or not, but it's sure to make him think twice about approaching me again with that nonsense. So, can you _please_ put a stop to this knight-in-shining-armor display?”

When she doesn’t get a reply, Lily continues to glare at James until his doubtful expression slowly morphs into a soft smile.

“What? What are you smiling for?” She asks hotly, suddenly all too aware of her hands still resting on his chest. In a move that feels entirely too conspicuous, she lets them slide down and hang by her sides awkwardly. “What’s funny?”

“Nothing,” James says, but now he’s grinning openly and that just irritates her more. “It’s just been a while since I’ve seen that temper of yours, Evans.”

“I—” Lily blinks, a little taken aback, and is not very successful in controlling the blush that crawls up her face, “that’s—eh—”

“Strangely enough, I think I missed it,” He continues, fully laughing now.

“Don’t change the subject, you prat!” Lily finally finds her voice, but can’t help the twitch of her lips.

“Yeah, yeah, I know,” James agrees before throwing his arm around her shoulders and starting to walk towards the staircases again. “I’m sorry for acting like a ponce earlier. I know you wouldn’t let anyone walk all over you, least of all Snivellus.”

“Right,” Lily raises a brow at him as they continue walking, unable to keep a hold of her anger any longer, especially with her tucked against James’s side like that. “I hope this means you’re not going to do anything stupid now.”

“I—”

“Let me rephrase that. I hope you’re not going to do anything stupid about _this_. I realize asking you not to be stupid in general is too much.”

“Oh, Evans, such stellar wit,” Comes James’s flat reply, “Catch me before I collapse from mirth.”

“You’re _already_ leaning on me,” Lily laughs.

“Got a problem with that?”

“Would you move away if I said yes?”

“Hm, probably not.”

“Then, no,” She says, and it requires no genius to catch the pleasantly surprised gleam in James’s eyes at her answer. But Lily simply smiles as if she hasn’t said anything telling and her heart _isn’t_ trying to beat its way out of her chest.

And sooner than either of them would like, they find themselves in front of the painting of the Fat Lady.

“Alright, Evans?” James asks, finally taking off his arm from around Lily.

“Not in any danger of jumping out the nearest window,” Lily confirms with a shrug. Then when James nods and turns around, she frowns. “Where are you going? Aren’t you coming inside?”

“Was on my way to dinner when you practically cornered me with your tears.”

“My _what_ —?”

“Shh, you’ve had a long day. Go take rest, Lily. I’m off to the kitchens.”

“James—”

“Goodnight!” He says, turning around with a wink.

But before he can leave, Lily steps forward and catches his forearm. “James, wait!”

“Alright, alright, I was just kidding—” He laughs, turning to face her. But before he can say anything further, Lily pulls herself onto her tiptoes and drops a swift kiss on his cheek.

“Thank you.”

James makes a half-strangled noise at the back of his throat when she pulls away from him. And the only thing that helps Lily combat her own pounding heartbeat is the sight of his face turning a distinct hue of red as he grapples to make sense of what just happened.

Lily isn’t quite sure either. 

“I, er—you—” James blinks, mouth a little agape, before seeming to snap out of it. He clears his throat and tries again. “Um, that’s—what?”

“I said _thank you_ ,” Lily answers on a laugh, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, “for listening and letting me rant. For…all of it.”

“Oh. That’s—well, it’s no big deal, really.”

“Maybe not for _you_ ,” She shrugs, shuffling around self-consciously, “But it meant a lot to me. So, thank you.”

“Well,” James finally finds his voice again, a blindingly bright grin on his face as he shoves his hands into the pockets of his trousers. “You’re welcome, I guess.”

She’s not stupid enough not to understand the direction her feelings are taking, but even her Gryffindor courage is not strong enough to make her openly admit to things she’s not mentally prepared to. At least not yet.

So all she does is offer him a smile and a small wave in return. For now. “Goodnight, James.”

“See you later, Lil,” James says softly.

And it’s probably her wishful thinking again, but she’s certain she feels James’s eyes on her until the moment the portrait hole closes behind her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Everyone needs to go read all the fics by xMagicalMystery on Ao3 right away!


	5. Collision

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> For the prompt, "you know nothing about me", that I received on Tumblr from a lovely anon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a heads up, this is mostly Snape-bashing because he deserves it.

**Collision**

“I know you’re hanging out with Potter and his gang now.”

“Severus,” Lily sighed, eyes closing in annoyance as the sallow-faced boy stepped out of the alcove near the stairs, blocking her path to the dungeons. “Move. I’m late for Potions.”

“See? They’re already influencing you,” Snape said quickly, a desperate look in his black eyes. “You never used to be late to classes.”

“Not that it’s any of your business, but I was with Professor McGonagall, discussing prefect duties. I even have a note from her,” She tapped the folded piece of parchment in her robes with her wand, almost smirking when he frowned at the rustling noise. “So, if you’re quite done with your little interrogation…”

“You can’t trust him, Lily!” Snape hissed, stepping in front of her again as she tried to leave.

Irritation flared in her chest, and she didn’t try to hold it back.

“Oh, yeah? Would you rather I trust _your_ wonderful friends then? Mulicber? Or Avery, perhaps?” She tapped her chin in mock-thought. “Oh wait! That’s right—they’d kill me in my sleep.”

“I—I wouldn’t let that happen!” Snape stammered immediately, “I’d tell them to leave you alone. You can trust _me_.”

Lily couldn’t help the disbelieving snort that escaped her. “Save it, Snape. I don’t think you even hear yourself anymore. If you did, you’d know how bloody hypocritical you sound, trying to pretend like you’re any better than them just because you’ve somehow convinced yourself that you care about me.”

“I _do_ care about you, Lily! I’m your friend, not _Potter._ He doesn’t deserve you! I know you’ll regret it—I know you can’t possibly like him—”

“You know _nothing_ about me,” She seethed, pulling out her wand slowly. Snape’s eyes widened in alarm at the sight. “James is my friend. At least he doesn’t want people like me dead. At least _he_ doesn’t throw prejudiced slurs at me.”

“Lily, you’re not thinking clearly. He’s gotten inside your head.”

“ _Leave_ , Severus. Or I’ll make you.”

“Just listen—”

“Evans!” 

Lily’s eyes darted past Snape’s shoulder at the sound of the familiar voice, and a relieved breath whooshed out of her. James stood at the bottom of the stairs, looking at the scene before him with a stiff smile.

“What’s going on here?”

“Stay out of this, Potter,” Snape spat, hatred evident in every part of his being. “It’s none of your business.”

“Except that it is,” James said darkly, “Professor Slughorn sent me to find out what was taking Lily so long.”

“Why would he send _you_?! You’re not even a prefect!”

“I’m sure Slughorn would be delighted to explain his reasoning to you over a cup of tea if you asked nicely.”

Snape scowled, looking away from James and back to Lily, who’s lips were twitching imperceptibly.

“Really, Lily?” He asked her, eyebrows raised in clear disgust. “ _Him_?”

“Really, Severus?” Lily mocked, finally brushing past him with a roll of her eyes, “Voldemort?”

And while Snape blanched at her blatant use of the name, his feet rooted to the ground in shock, Lily winked at James, slowing down as she approached him.

He let out a booming bark of laughter, admiration shining in his hazel eyes. “This might just be the best moment of my life.”

“Come on, you big oaf,” Lily shook her head with a small smile, trying and failing to look exasperated as spots of red tinted her cheeks.

“As you say, Evans,” James grinned, slinging an arm across her shoulder while he used his other hand to flip a bird into the air. “Goodbye, Snivellus.”

_The End._


	6. Malady

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The good ol' nursing back to health trope, which I wrote for this prompt on Tumblr:
> 
> "I'm never going to leave you. I promise."

Malady

Lily feels like dying. Like _DYING._

And that is not a sentiment she goes around throwing very carelessly, mind you. 

But she shakes all over even under the abundance of blankets currently covering her person. She inhales sharply to control her runny nose, and moans, feeling like her head weighs a ton.

Lily’s rather certain she has the flu.

But that’s not quite what makes her want to die. If it were that simple, she’d suck it up and rest in bed until she’d recovered. But no. Things have to be infinitely more difficult for her because James bloody _sweetheart_ Potter has taken it upon himself to nurse her back to health. 

Again, this would’ve been _fine_ , had he not felt the need to be constantly _touching_ her. 

Her heavy head rests on his lap, the orange glow of twilight painting the common area of their heads’ dorm in a surreal light. The logs in the fireplace crackle pleasantly, and Lily keeps her eyes closed, trying to breathe through her mouth. 

James is reading a book, and the occasional turn of the page is the only sound in the room— _apart_ from Lily’s own miserable groans, of course. 

She tries to adjust herself more comfortably on the couch, feeling every limb in her body cry in protest, and James’s hand falls to her head, long fingers combing through her strands and gently massaging her scalp.

She can’t help it; a quiet moan slips out. Her only saving grace is the fact that her already warm face can’t get any redder with embarrassment. 

“Alright, Evans?” She hears James’s amused voice above her. She doesn’t need to open her eyes to know that he’s grinning.

“No.”

“What’s wrong?” His tone is immediately softer, “What hurts?”

“Everything hurts,” Lily replies like a dramatic damsel, but she figures she’s earned the right, “but that’s not the point. You need to leave, James.”

They’ve had this conversation one too many times over the past two days, and James’s heavy sigh seems to say as much. 

“I’m not going anywhere, Lily.”

“You’ll fall sick too!”

“I won’t.”

“Why?” Lily’s voice takes on a mocking tone, green eyes opening to glare half-heartedly, “because you’re the invincible James Potter? Maladies for mere mortals can’t touch you?”

“Exactly,” James snaps his book shut, legs shifting under her. Lily almost protests at the movement before she realizes it won’t help her case at all.

But she’s _needy_ , and James is her weakness. 

She wishes, not for the first time, that he would just understand her unspoken words and stop the torture, but he continues to be merciless in his platonic adoration of her, which is somehow _so_ much worse than any flu Lily could ever contract.

“ _James_ ,” Lily whines, feeling like she wants to cry or shout or snuggle or snog him. 

“Don’t say my name like that,” there’s a pained undertone to his voice, and Lily bites her lip. “Can you just—let me take care of you? If I _do_ fall sick, you can let me have it then.”

“Well, I can’t let you _have it_ then,” Lily sniggers, coughing vehemently right after. James rubs comforting circles on her back, “I’ll just have to refuse to leave your side, too. Will stick to you like glue.”

“You don’t need to convince me,” James laughs, “I’m rather pathetic when I’m sick. I’m never going to leave you. I promise.”

Lily hums, feeling pleased with the bargain she’s struck. “Well, as long as we have that sorted.”

"You’re a crazy bird, Evans,” He chuckles, “Do you want some soup?”

“No. Stay here.”

“Alright.”


	7. Doodle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> For the prompt, “Can I at least tell my side of the story?” by the amazing @theroomofreq on Tumblr.
> 
> AKA the one where James's embarrassing doodle finally reaches its recipient

**Doodle**

“What’s your bloody problem, Potter?”

James’s laughter died down at the sound of the voice, a hand jumping up to his hair as he turned around in his armchair to find Lily Evans stalking towards him from the portrait hole, face red enough to match her hair.

“Evans,” James blinked, dropping his hand immediately when her scathing remark from a few days ago near the lake came to mind, “What’s the matter?”

“What’s the matter, you say?” Evans scoffed, and James could tell from his peripheral vision that Gryffindors all around the common room had stopped to stare at what they expected to be another one of their infamous rows. His attention was snapped back when she spoke again. “The _matter_ is that you just can’t seem to take ‘no’ for an answer. I’ve tried telling you nicely one too many times, but this is just childish, even by your standards.”

“I know you’re going to think I’m lying, but I honestly don’t have the faintest clue as to what you mean.”

“Oh, really?” Lily threw him a fake smile, suddenly shoving a tiny piece of parchment under his nose, “perhaps this will help you remember.”

James curiously moved his eyes away from her face and looked down at the short note. Within half a heartbeat, the tips of his ears were dangerously warm, and he kept blinking at the note, unable to believe what he was seeing.

Thankfully, Remus had taken it upon himself to shoo away the onlookers with a stern, “don’t you lot have anything better to do with your time?”, so at least James was saved the mortification of having prying eyes witness his pathetic state.

“ _Well_?” Lily said, a hand on her hip as she looked at him. James noticed that she had yet to return back to her normal color, taking some comfort in the fact that he was not alone in his humiliation, though hers was definitely mixed with a good amount of anger.

“How did you find this?” He asked in a pained voice, looking down at the parchment again and openly flinching.

It was one of James’s numerous doodles, the ones he often found himself drawing absent-mindedly during classes.

This one was particularly embarrassing; it was a large heart with an arrow running through it, and it merrily nodded from one side to the other, courtesy of his special quill. The highlight was, of course, the pair of initials inked boldly inside the heart.

James recognized this doodle very well, remembered the exact History of Magic lesson during which he had drawn it several weeks ago. But what he did not recognize was the horrifying message scribbled underneath it in his handwriting.

_Evans, the bud of my heart,_

_I like you a Lily bit more every day_

_All I can think about is how we should put our tulips together_

_And how robes on bodies are really just a bother_

“Can I at least tell my side of the story?” He asked quickly, gulping when his eyes traveled back up to see Lily turning redder by the second. “I swear it’s not what it looks like. I didn’t write this.”

“You expect me to actually believe that?!” She seethed, “That’s your chicken scrawl, isn’t it?”

“Yes, but—hang on, how did you know—?”

“So, you’re telling me someone _else_ went through all the trouble to write down this utterly terrible, pun-filled, and downright crass poem, draw a stupid heart with our initials on it, and dropped the parchment into my bag for—for what, exactly?”

James blinked, “Uhh…”

“Thought so. You know, Potter, I always knew you were a prat, but I never pegged you for a liar.”

“No, wait!” James jumped out of the chair, feeling slightly desperate when Lily looked like she was about to storm off, “alright, that—that drawing _is_ mine. But I _swear_ I didn’t write the rubbish underneath it and I sure as _hell_ didn’t drop it into your bag! I’d have to be mad to—come on, Evans, look at it! I’m not eleven anymore. I could do much better.”

Lily continued to stare at him suspiciously, and James tried not to squirm under her scrutinizing gaze even though he was rather certain he was flushed all over.

After what seemed like an eternity, she let out a heavy exhale and James almost wiped his brow in relief. “It doesn’t make any sense though,” Lily said, “Who would do something like that?”

James considered her question for a second. No one in the entire school had anything to gain out of trying something like this, not when James made his affections for Lily quite vocal all by himself. None of the Slytherins who hated him possessed a funny bone in their body, so James quickly ruled them out as well.

In fact, the only people who would find his embarrassment absolutely _tickling—_

His eyes sharply flitted to the three boys still seated around the fireplace, their backs unnaturally rigid and tense.

He looked at Remus first, whose face was a mask of pure innocence, and he smiled at James pleasantly. Narrowing his eyes, James moved onto Sirius, who was nothing if not a bastard. He was barely controlling the chuckles spilling from his lips and the mirth in his grey eyes was unrestrained, but this was hardly evidence enough for James, for he was certain Sirius would find the situation entirely hilarious regardless of whether it was brought on by him or anyone else.

Finally, his eyes settled on Peter, and as soon as the smaller boy looked at him, he let a telling squeak fly, watery eyes flitting nervously and confirming James’s suspicions.

Sirius and Remus let out simultaneous groans of disbelief and facepalmed, shooting up from the couch and immediately bolting away, dragging a jittery Peter behind them. Laughter bounced off the walls as they quickly exited the portrait hole.

A second ticked by, and James turned to look at Lily with a deranged expression on his face.

“Excuse me, Evans,” He said, pushing past her with a smile that probably scared Lily enough that she didn’t think to put up a fight, “I have three murders to commit tonight.”


	8. Crashing Down

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> For the prompt, “move out of my way before I make you” by @keepingupwithpotters on Tumblr!
> 
> You might wanna kill me after this :) Yay!

**Crashing Down**

“Did you send a Patronus?” She asks, panting as she runs through the trees and brambles, branches scratching on her arms and drawing blood. She doesn’t pay them any mind, much more concerned about the hoard of death eaters on their tail. “ _James_.”

“Sorry, yes. Yes, I did,” Says her husband, running beside her and frequently turning around to check for pursuers. He’s in a much better condition than her, and she knows he can easily go faster, but is slowing his pace for her. She tries once again to apparate them out of the forest but finds that they haven’t crossed the anti-apparition wards yet.

“We need a plan,” She says, heart sinking, “They’ll catch up to us in no time, and it’s impossible to know where the wards end.”

“We can take them.”

“James, there are at least twelve of them and only two of us.”

“We can _take_ them,” He tells her, blazing eyes turning to stare at her as they continue to run. “Don’t you dare lose hope now, Evans.”

“I’m not,” She says, hating that he knows her so well. Hating that he sees the fear in her eyes. Fear for _him._ “I’m just saying we—”

But before she can finish her sentence, a green flash of light blazes to her left, missing her by a couple of feet and leaving a charred hole in a tree trunk. She swears softly, stitches forming on her sides.

“Fuck! _Lily_!” James’s voice is a panicked call, his warm hand immediately wrapping around her wrist and sharply tugging her to the right. She follows him unquestioningly, trusting him with her life, but can’t help the tears that start forming at the corner of her eyes.

“We can’t outrun them, James,” She gasps, sobs, and lets him pull her away from the path and behind a large tree. He peeks around the corner to check again, and she tugs on their adjoined hands to get him to look at her again, “If they catch us both together, we’re dead.”

“The others will be here in no time,” James says firmly, but she knows him too—catches the unspoken doubt in his eyes, and finds her heart breaking.

“I’ll distract them.”

“ _No_ ,” he says before she’s even finished her suggestion. “No chance in fucking _hell_ are you going out there.”

“James, please,” she cries, letting the tears flow freely now, “ _Please_ , or we both die.”

“Then I’ll go. I’ll be the bait.”

Even the thought of this is enough to freeze her heart with fear.

“No. They—they won’t kill me. Severus will be there, maybe he’ll help,” She tries, but James is already opening his mouth, anger evident on his face, so she continues grappling for reasons. “And they’d kill you immediately, James, you’re a much bigger threat than I am—”

“That’s laughably untrue,” he hisses, eyes widening now in alarm, “Lily, you can’t seriously be considering this.”

“I—”

“We know you’re here, Potter!” Someone shouts, and the words die on her lips as fear reaches out and squeezes her lungs until all she can see is terror. “We’re taking you and your Mudblood back to the Dark Lord tonight. He has a really _special_ welcome planned for you.”

Cruel sniggers fill the air around them, and she bites her lip hard enough to draw blood.

“I’m sorry James,” she takes a shuddering breath, ignoring her husband’s vehement shaking of the head. It strikes her all of a sudden how bloody _young_ they are—how he’s barely more than a boy who’s been thrown into a massive war with no choice but to man up, how she’s barely more than a girl with little knowledge of the world, and all she knows is how to _love_ , love _hard_. She cannot fathom doing anything else. “I’ll come back to you; I promise.”

She tries to tear away from him, but his body is a firm barrier between her and the voices that won’t stop getting closer.

“No, Lily. I can’t let you. This is madness.”

He’s crying now, but she can’t take away his pain with soothing words anymore.

 _Merlin_ , she wants to.

“Move, James.”

“No,” he begs, “Please.”

She wipes her eyes, takes a deep breath, and points her wand at her husband with a shaking hand. “Move out of my way before I make you.”

He simply takes a step forward until the wand is digging into his chest. She stares at him for a beat and he pushes her hand away, holding her face in between his loving palms and dropping the most heartbreaking kiss on her lips.

“Please, Lily. _Please._ I love you.”

“I love you, too,” she cries into his mouth, trying to stay quiet as her body shakes with silent sobs. Feeling like death would be a better alternative than this, she directs her wand into James’s side and kisses him back. “And that’s why I have to do this. _Stupefy_.”

His body goes rigid in her arms, head lolling as unconsciousness takes hold of him. She muffles a couple more sobs into his skin, memorizes the warmth of his body around hers, and gently places him down against the foot of the tree.

She casts a skillful disillusionment charm on him that she reckons will last long enough and keep him safe at least until Sirius and the others come looking for them. She knows her stunning spell had been weak—her heart clearly protesting the intent behind performing it—so at least he’ll be awake and able to respond when help arrives.

“I’m sorry,” She whispers, leaving a lingering kiss on his temple, and convinces herself to finally tear away from him and walk out to greet the Death Eaters.


	9. Little Triumphs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> On the prompt, "you're really warm" by the insanely kind and talented @blitheringmcgonagall on Tumblr
> 
> I mean, are you surprised that I'd go for mutual pining!Jily with a prompt like this? I'm certainly not.

**Little Triumphs**

“Lily, where are you going?” Marlene yelled when I broke away from the group, her arm slung across Mary’s shoulder, “Come on, there’s sure to be a party soon.”

“I’ll enjoy the peace and quiet for a while, thanks!” I shouted back, making my way towards the Great Lake, “The team’s going to take some time to return to the common room anyway.”

“Alright, see you!”

“Don’t be late, Evans!” Mary yelled with a small wave, the pair of them disappearing with the crowd as they made their way back to the castle.

I took off my sneakers and socks, settling down on the lakeside and unwrapping the scarlet and gold scarf from around my neck. Letting my toes curl around the damp grass, I closed my eyes and leaned back on my hands. The sun had almost set over the horizon, the last few minutes of its warm rays washing over my skin in the most pleasant of ways.

It’d been a rather long afternoon, the Quidditch match between Gryffindor and Ravenclaw having run for over four hours. The seekers on both sides had constantly been in a touch-and-go state and several feints were attempted to fool the opponent team. By the end, even the spectators on the stands had grown tired of shouting and the adrenaline had all but dried up. When the whistle finally sounded, signaling that Gryffindor had managed to catch the snitch, ending the match with a lead of hundred and eighty points, the stands had erupted into one of the loudest cheers I had ever experienced during my entire time at Hogwarts.

Not that I was anyone to judge, being one of those madly screaming spectators myself. My eyes had been trained onto a very specific player for most of the game, whose grin had been visible even from a great distance, erupting pathetic little butterflies in the pit of my stomach.

He was also incidentally the captain of the bloody team and my best-mate, which meant I’d been able to conjure up a banner with his name on it without drawing any suspicion to my glaring crush on the blighter.

Not that I _cared_. I just wished he’d catch on to the hints I kept dropping already. It was getting rather ridiculous.

Just the other day, I’d all but gone and sat on his _lap_ , and even Sirius—whose lack of subtlety was notorious throughout the school—had shaken his head pityingly at me when all I’d received for my attempts was a pleasant smile and a simple ‘hullo, Evans.’

Well, he could _shove_ his hullo—

“Why didn’t you come congratulate me?”

A smile spread across my face at the voice, knowing he’d come looking for me using that brilliant map of his. Not that he could’ve missed my noticeable hair blazing in the orange light on his way up to the castle, but I allowed myself the happiness of thinking it was the former since he was alone.

“You were rather busy with your admirers.”

“Are you jealous, Evans?” He asked, dropping down onto the grass beside me. My eyes moved to look at him, a cheeky smile pulling back to reveal his straight, white teeth, the happiness all but spilling from his eyes, and the light shining on his damp, dark hair, meaning he’d taken a shower already. I was glad for that—I could smell the clean soap and _Jamesness_ off of him from this close. “You know you don’t need to be.”

“Yes, Potter,” I rolled my eyes, bumping his shoulder with mine and not entirely able to keep the grin from my face either, “Thank you _so_ much for that assurance.”

“I thought you’d come,” He said, his voice slightly softer as he looked at me with a strange expression.

“Were you looking for me?”

“Well, you know, _yeah_ ,” He said, and my heart swelled like a balloon, “everyone else was there, even the lads.”

I rolled my eyes again, wishing he’d move beyond thinking of me as one of ‘the lads’, even though I did adore the group of idiots with all my heart. Pulling out some more of my Gryffindor courage, I decided to go for another reckless try. “That’s precisely why I wasn’t there, James. I wanted you all to myself.”

My eyes didn’t miss the red spots that appeared on his cheeks at my words and hope bloomed in my chest, but the git just laughed, trying to cover up his flustered state, “You know you can pull me away anytime you want, Lily.”

I almost groaned out loud, but reined it in just enough that it came out as a heavy exhale, and dropped my head onto his shoulder. Almost immediately, his arm came around to wrap around me and pull me closer to his side.

"I know I don't need to tell you this, but you were brilliant. As always."

"No harm in hearing you say it."

I closed my eyes and smiled, letting silence settle over us as the sun finally disappeared over the horizon. We sat there like that for a while, and I didn’t know what he was thinking, but it didn’t matter—it felt nice, just having him hold me like that. Like it didn’t matter that he couldn’t speak the words I so longed to hear, for his touch told me enough.

“You’re really warm,” His voice was a husky sound that pulled at my heartstrings. “How long have you been sitting here?”

“I was waiting for you.”

“Hmm,” I could hear the pleased note in just that little hum, “Well, I’m here now.”

“I can see that, James,” I laughed, “Do you want to go inside?”

“To the party, you mean?”

“Yes. And to great food and Firewhiskey, as I’m sure the boys have already arranged from Hogsmeade.”

He was quiet for a while, and I wondered if he was going to reply at all, but then his lips settled gently on the crown of my head. “In some time, maybe.”

“Good.”


	10. Pranking Pranksters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Remus won't leave the common room, and the boys need to arrange his surprise birthday party. Lily takes matters into her own hands.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the prompt, "Why is arson always your first answer?” by the lovely @theroomofreq yet again!

**Pranking Pranksters**

“Think he suspects anything yet?”

“What do you take us for, Evans? _Amateurs?_ ” Sirius whispers in affront, rolling his eyes at her, “We’ve been doing this for years.”

“I’m very well aware. I’m just saying Remus is smarter than the rest of us put together.”

“That might’ve been true if you hadn’t counted yourself in with us,” James pokes her teasingly with the tip of his wand, and she lets out a surprised squeak.

Immediately, Remus’s curious blue eyes tear away from the book he’s reading to look around for the source of the noise.

Cursing softly under their breath, the four sixth-year Gryffindors flatten themselves against the stairwell leading to the boys’ dormitories, hiding from view.

“Did you _have_ to poke her right now, Prongs?” Peter whispers accusingly.

“Sorry,” James runs a hand through his hair, wincing under the weight of the three glares directed at him.

Lily huffs a breath, trying to look exasperated, but unable to properly wipe the smile that tugs on the corner of her lips. She quickly turns away from them with the pretense of checking on Remus again lest they catch her amused expression. “He’s gone back to reading.”

“This is so boring!” Sirius whines, “my legs are falling asleep.”

“It was _your_ idea to begin with.”

“Yes, but I didn’t expect him to be reading his book for a thousand bloody years!”

“That is literally what he does!” James scoffs, “how did you not expect it?”

“Maybe I should set the chair on fire. _Incen_ —”

“No, _stop_! Put your fucking wand down!” Lily hisses, eyes wide with alarm as she slaps Sirius’s hand away. “Why is arson always your first answer?”

“Because it’s so effective!”

“I don’t think Remus will be well pleased if we endangered his life, Sirius,” says Peter.

“Collateral damage.”

“It isn’t _collateral damage_ if you _kill_ the person whom you’re trying to make happy, you prat,” James says, smacking him gently.

As Sirius goes on a tirade about how he isn’t trying to _kill_ but only _scare_ and that Remus is way too smart to be maimed by something as small as a burning chair and does James even know him _at all?,_ Lily rolls her eyes, pushing off from the wall.

“I’ll go distract him, you get the job done.”

“What? Lily, wait—”

But she’s already descended the stairs, ignoring James’s panicked voice behind her, and makes her way to where her fellow prefect sits by the fireplace, nose still buried in his book.

“Hello, Remus.”

“Lily,” He looks up, smiling pleasantly, “I thought you’d be outside with the girls on this fine day.”

“I just had to finish the transfiguration assignment that’s due tomorrow.”

“In the boys’ dormitories?” A rare smirk flits across his lips; eyes sharp as they challenge her.

“Went to return the book on Advanced Transfiguration that I’d borrowed from James,” She counters, not missing a beat. “You know how rubbish I am at the subject.”

“Hardly,” Remus laughs, closing his book with a snap and giving her his undivided attention. “Maybe not as brilliant as you are in other classes, but not rubbish by any means.”

“You flatter me. We both know James is _trouncing_ me in Transfiguration.”

“Only because McGonagall favors him.”

“Remus Lupin, you take that back! McGonagall loves me.”

“Oh, alright, I’ll accept that James _is_ better,” He chuckles again, shaking his head, “didn’t think I’d ever see the day when _you,_ of all people, would be trying to get me to admit it.”

“Weirder things have happened,” Lily shrugs, unable to keep the blush from stealing across her face at the knowledge that the subject of their conversation is very possibly—most _definitely_ —listening in on every word being spoken. “Hey, would you be interested in taking a walk around the lake?”

“I was just about to ask you the same thing,” He says easily, getting up from the chair. “Maybe we could stop by the kitchens to see if the house-elves have any chocolate pudding left over from lunch.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

The pair of them make their way away from the couches and towards the portrait hole, chatting amicably all the while. Just before Lily steps outside, she turns around to give a swift ‘all-clear’ gesture, knowing that the boys hidden in the stairwell have their eyes trained on them.

“Well, that was rather easy,” she says, turning back to Remus with a smirk once the portrait shuts behind her.

“Tell me about it,” He laughs, “you’d think they’d try to be at least slightly more subtle with their plan. James, Sirius, _and_ Peter, _all_ wanting to stay in and _study_ on a free evening after I invite them to the kitchens? On my birthday? I’m almost ashamed.”

“Well, to be fair, it _is_ you. Rather difficult to plan a surprise party when you know them so well.”

“Which is why they solicited your help, no doubt.”

“And yet, you got to me first,” Lily grumbles, looking almost put off, “I feel rather guilty about tricking them. They’re only trying to make your birthday more fun, you know.”

“Now, now, Lily, remember that you were my mate first,” Remus grins happily, draping an arm across her shoulder as they make their way down the third flight of stairs, “besides, I’m rather terrible at pretending I don’t know what they’re up to. Didn’t want to ruin their plan by being obnoxiously _aware._ ”

“You’re not terrible at anything, and you know it,” She laughs, “In fact, I’m certain now more than ever that you’re the _worst_ of the lot.”

“I’m _hurt_ ,” he says, but goes and ruins the sentiment by laughing along with her, “those are baseless assumptions meant to tarnish the name of a good man.”

“There you have it; you with your big words and innocent eyes. No one ever suspects you!”

“Says _you_! Remind me again who’s the double agent amongst the two of us?”

“Touché,” she sighs, “just remember to tell the boys that I was under your Imperius Curse if the truth ever comes out.”

“You have a Marauder’s word.”


	11. Snargaluff

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lily's mad. James is confused. What's new?

**Snargaluff**

“Evans!”

“—so just let me know if you need more help with the _Cave Inimicum_ charm, alright?” Lily smiled at the fifth year Ravenclaw kindly, ignoring the prat yelling her name. “And send me an owl if you have any questions.”

“Sure. Thanks, Lily.”

“ _Evans,_ wait!”

“I think the Head Boy’s calling you,” said the Ravenclaw, her eyes flitting to look behind her with a strange smile.

“Off you go, Genevieve. You’ll be late for class.”

“Er, right. Thanks again.”

“Oh, for _Merlin’s sake,_ Lily!” huffed the tall, 17-year-old git as he caught up to her, frowning sulkily, “I’ve been calling your name for ages! Trying to make me look absolutely insane, are you?”

“You don’t need my help with that.”

“ _Lily.”_

“What is it, James?” she rolled her eyes, trying to look very much like the patient Head Girl she wasn’t at the moment. She turned to him with an exasperated expression, masking the way his bright hazel eyes were making butterflies erupt inside her stomach. “Did you want something?”

“I did actually. Some answers would be nice.”

“Answers?”

“You’re ignoring me.”

“That’s not a question.”

“You’re not even going to deny it?”

“What would be the point?” Lily asked, making her way towards the entrance hall. “You’d just say I was lying.”

James easily fell into step beside her, eyes wide and incredulous behind his glasses. “Well then? _Why_ are you?”

“No reason.”

“Oh, because _that’s_ a completely valid answer. Thank you for clearing it all right up. I’ll finally sleep in peace tonight.”

“That’s all I could’ve hoped for.”

“Lily,” he gritted his teeth, and she could hear the annoyance that was now evident in his tone. _Good_ , she wanted to say. She was annoyed as well. “Stop trying to evade the question. What’s going on with you?”

“I’m fine, James. I’ve just been stressed.”

“Because of me?”

“No,” she sighed, but reconsidered, “I don’t know. Maybe.”

“You’re doing it again.”

“I’m just—you’re confusing me, James.”

“ _I_ am confusing _you_? I’m sorry, are we both having the same conversation?”

“Well, not right now! I meant before,” she snapped, throwing open the tall double doors as she stepped outside into the courtyard, the crisp, cool air whipping through her hair. James was right at her heels.

“Three years ago, then? I tend to forget the details with my wise years catching up to me.”

She wouldn’t smile no matter how much her lips wanted to turn up at the corners. He was a bloody charmer, but Lily had honed her resistance to him for over six years, even if she increasingly found it difficult to remember how.

“Shut up.”

“Is this about breakfast last week?”

She didn’t even _remember_ breakfast last week. “What?”

“Because let me tell you, I tried to convince Sirius, but he was certain Regulus was being brainwashed by Mulciber. And he promised he’d only throw a harmless hex—”

“Oh, I don’t _care_ about Mulciber, James! I’m sure he deserves all the hexes he gets anyway.”

“Ah,” He blinked, nodding as they came to a standstill against the large fountain, “nevermind then. What’s it about?”

Lily groaned loudly, and let him bear the full brunt of her glare. “If you really _must_ know, it’s because of what happened in Potions class.”

“Potions?” He asked, a tiny little crease appearing between his dark brows, “that doesn’t ring a bell.”

“Good for you,” she said, trying to walk away.

“No, wait wait wait—just, give me a second, would you?” His fingers lightly brushed her palm, pulling back immediately as if shocked by the contact. Lily felt electricity zoom up her arm as well, so she couldn’t really blame him. “ _Fuck_ , I really can’t remember. You can curse me into oblivion, but at least let me know what I’ve done!”

He was throwing such a pitiful glance her way that Lily felt her resolve crumble like a cookie. Oh, she was turning into such a pathetic mess.

“You switched partners.”

“I—um,” James shut his gaping mouth, two pink spots appearing over his cheeks. “No?”

“Are you asking me or are you telling me?”

“Telling you?”

“Oh, for Merlin’s sake, James,” Lily rolled her eyes again, feeling her own mortification catch up to her. “I know you did it, don’t bother denying now. You could’ve told me you didn’t want to work with me anymore. I didn’t think I repulsed you that much.”

“Hang on, what the fuck are you saying?” He looked flabbergasted, sputtering nonsensically for a few seconds before he found his voice again, “ _repulsed_ by you? _Me_? _Repulsed?!_ I—you— _no_ , Lily! Just— _no_.”

Her eyebrows disappeared into her hairline, and she bit her lip, holding in the smile that wanted to take over her whole face. “Then why did I see you scribbling a note to Sirius begging him to switch seats with you when Slughorn gave us our new assignment?”

“You _saw_ that?! Were you reading over my shoulder?”

“Really?” she deadpanned, “that’s your main concern?”

“Well, I—I didn’t want to make a fool out of myself, okay?” He threw his hands into the air, and Lily found it interesting to notice that his cheeks had gotten even redder, “you make me say and behave like a bloody idiot. We were using Snargaluffs that day and I knew—I knew I’d get distracted next to you. Didn’t really fancy having thorns sticking out of my fingers, or yours.”

Lily didn’t know what to say, so she just stared. James grew more restless by the second, words pouring out of his mouth in panic.

“I didn’t want you to hate me when I inevitably fucked up, so I asked Sirius to switch. He’s better at Potions than I am anyway—don’t tell him I said that, he’s a stupid wanker—so I thought he was the next best option since Remus was already partnered with Peter. Oh, Merlin, I hope he didn’t say anything weird to you, I _specifically_ told him not to—”

“James, stop,” Lily said, a laugh finally bursting out of her as she dropped her hand onto his arm, “Sirius didn’t say anything weird.”

“No?”

“No!” She laughed again, before her eyes softened and she tilted her head to stare at him with a small smile, “it’s just that, well, I was happier with you.”

She heard the deep intake of his breath and waited for the entire three seconds that it took for him to reply.

“Even though Padfoot’s better at Potions?”

“Even then,” she grinned, stepping closer. “So, would you terribly mind returning back to your seat next lesson?”

His fingers were lightly resting on her waist now. “On one condition.”

Her eyes flicked to his lips, “what’s that, Potter?”

“That you don’t murder me in my sleep when I earn us a Troll.”

Lily didn’t know whether to smack her skull open against the stone, snog him senseless or laugh at his ridiculousness, so she found a middle ground and dropped her head on his chest with a light snigger, comforting herself with his pleasant warmth.

“You’ve got yourself a deal.”


End file.
